Back to the Explorers
of the West
Digest #4
In this digest:
1) Placenames - A Canada- New Zealand Connection?
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>A quick glance at my map shows Palliser Bay and Cape Palliser nearby. Did Hector name these after his Canadian experience? I also spotted the community of Murchison. I have a picture on the web of our Canadian Mt. Murchison which Hector named. Maybe Marieke or Martijn would like to find a book of placenames and check your Murchison out for me?
We found the names you asked about in a book called WISES NEW ZEALAND GUIDE A Gazetteer Of New Zealand (Eigth edition 1987)ISBN 0-908794-00-2
Under Murchison we found:
The settlement... was given the name of the nearby mountains, Mt Murchison which geologist (Sir) Julius von Haast had named in honour of the Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Impey Murchison
Murchison Mountains:
The mountains were named by the surveyor James McKerrow
Palliser, Cape
Named by Captain Cook on 7 Febuary 1770, as he completed his first circumnavigation of the North Island, in honour of his "worthy friend" Captain (Sir) Hugh Palliser, master of the Eagle, the first ship on which Cook served inn the Royal Navy. The Maori name is Matakitaki-a-Kupe.
But we also found place names with Hector in them
HECTOR Coastal settlement on the north bank of the mouth of the Ngakawau River, Buller County, Buller on Prov S.H. No 67, 4km north-east of Granity, 32km north-east of Westport. Nearest post office and railway station at Ngakawau about 1 km away on the south bank of the river mouth, the two settlements virtually forming one township. Principal industrial activity: bituminous coalmining at Stockton Mine 3km to the south-east. Swimming pool. Bush track to Charming Creek, 10km to the north-east, surfcasting at the beach. Named after geologist and explorer Sir James Hector (1834-1907), Otago Provincial Geologist and later Director of the Geological Survey and the Colonial Museum from 1865 to 1903.
HECTOR COL Saddle on the western shoulder of Mt Bevan (2277m) on the main
divide of the Southern Alps, on the boundary between Westland County, South Westland and Lake County, Central Otago, leading from the head of the Matukituki River West Branch across to the Bonar Glacier at the head of the Waipara River, an east bank tributary of the Arawata River. Named after Sir James Hector (see Hector above) who crossed this pass in February 1863 on his way to the West Coast.
HECTOR, LAKE Small lake just inland from the northern shoreline at the entrance to Chalky Inlet in the south-west corner of the Fiordland National Park, Fiord County, Fiordland. The lake drains via a short stream into the fiord, opposite Great Island. Named after Otago Provincial Geologist Sir James Hector, see Hector, above.
HECTOR, MOUNT Peak (1529m) towards the southern end of the Tararua Range rising to the east of the headwaters of the Waiotauru River, near the meeting point of Horowhenua and Hutt Counties, Southern Manawatu, with Wairarapa South and Featherston Counties, Southern Wairarapa. The Hector River flows from the northern slopes of the mountain, eastwards into the Waiohine River. Named after Geologist Sir James Hector, Director of the Geological Survey and of the Colonial Museum. See Hector, above. This main peak and the lower West Peak about 2km to the north-west are the double peaks (tara rua) which gave the range its name.
HECTOR MOUNTAINS A mountain range rising above the eastern shoreline of the
south arm of Lake Wakatipu, Lake County, Central Otago, forming an almost continuous chain with The Remarkables further north. Named by surveyor, explorer James McKerrow after Dr (later Sir) James Hector when Hector was Otago Provincial geologist.
Mount Hector isn't far from here. We are going to make a family trip to it in the summer holidays (Christmas) and take some more photos.
From our house on the balcony you can actually see the Taita cemetery across the Hutt Valley and I took a picture with the telelens.
Regards, Martijn
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Martijn Jasperse, 64 Gurney Rd, Kelson, Lower Hutt, New Zealand \
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